“Custom web design keeps spiders in business”, ABC Science, March 18, 2015.

Read the ABC Science article here.

‘When a fly or cricket hits a spider web, the web has to intercept the prey and hold it there until the spider comes and feeds,” says Dr Sean Blamires, an evolutionary biologist at the University of New South Wales.

But different prey strike the web with different forces and vibrate it in different ways in their attempt to escape.

“Crickets strike the web with more force and kick off against the web, causing pulse-like vibrations,” says Blamires. “Flies buzz rather than pulse and put less stress on the web.’